The North Korea crisis

Satellite images: North Korea is building a wall against South Korea

North Korea is building a wall in several places near the border with South Korea, the BBC reports, citing satellite images.

In pictures, two to three meter high barriers can be seen that stretch for a good kilometer along the eastern part of the border. Construction has taken place over the past few months – satellite images from November 2023 do not show the barriers.

Experts the BBC spoke to say the construction is unusual and it is unclear what its purpose is. The images also make it clear that North Korea has cleared away forests in the area near the border.

- It enables North Korea to more easily observe and monitor military activities in South Korea and to detect defectors trying to cross the border into South Korea, says Kil Joo-Ban, a security researcher at Goryeo Daehakgyo University in Seoul.

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Trouble at the border after the summit - Putin opens arms to North Korea

The South Korean military fired warning shots overnight Friday after North Korean soldiers crossed the land border into the demilitarized zone. The North Korean soldiers were carrying out repair work and the border violation appears to have been accidental, sources told Yonhap.

The incident shows that the situation between the countries is tense after Vladimir Putin's visit to North Korea's capital Pyongyang earlier this week. On Thursday, Putin opened the door for Russia to start exporting weapons to North Korea.

- Countries that send robots to Ukraine think they are not fighting us [...] but then we reserve the right to give weapons to other parts of the world, Putin said at a press conference in Hanoi.

The US reacts strongly to the statement, calling it "incredibly worrying", according to The Guardian.